


Up a Tree

by Whedonista93



Category: Fantastic Four, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 16:27:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18695134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whedonista93/pseuds/Whedonista93
Summary: Darcy gets stuck in a tree, and rescued by a cat... sort of.





	Up a Tree

Victor pauses, completely distracted from the scent of the deer he’d been tracking by the scent of a human - a woman. What the hell was a person doing this deep in the forest? And more importantly, where the hell were they? He spends half an hour tracking the scent to a clearing with a little pond before he finds himself stumped. He closes his eyes and listens. Breathing, faintly. Far away, almost, but the scent is in the clearing.

He growls in frustration before he shrugs. It’s not like he can’t take anyone who might be out here if they’re a problem. “Hello?”

“Oh my Thor! Is someone there?”

The voice comes from above him and Victor looks up in surprise. “Where the hell are you?”

“In a fucking tree, dumbass!”

Victor snorts - whoever this gal is, she’s got spunk. “What tree, smartass?”

“I don’t know! I can’t see the ground!”

Victor hears the rising panic in her voice and groans. He sheds his coat in the clearing and makes his way toward a pine in the general direction of her voice and starts climbing. He’s easily 200 feet up when he finally spots her, clinging to the top of a tree about 50 feet away and at least another 20 feet up, her face buried against her arms. He braces against a branch before launching himself to the next tree. He rolls his eyes and leaps to the next tree and then the next so he’s almost directly beneath her.

He settles himself on a sturdy branch and eyes the remaining space between them distrustfully, knowing they’ll snap under his bulk, and probably should’ve already snapped under the woman’s weight. “Sweetheart, unless you can fly, I don’t know how the hell you got up there, but there’s no way in hell I can get any higher.”

She scoffs. “I didn’t ask you to come up in the first place.”

“Maybe I thought you smelled like a better meal than what I was chasing.”

She makes a strangled sound and finally lifts her head and looks down at him.

He grins up at her.

Her eyes widen. “Victor?!”

He narrows his eyes back. “Do I know you?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

He lifts an eyebrow.

She blushes. “I know your brother.”

He growls.

“Shit! Please don’t not help me because I know your asshole brother!”

Victor laughs. “I’ll help you just ‘cause you think he’s an asshole, sweetheart.”

She heaves a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank Thor!”

“What’s your name?”

“Darcy.”

“Here’s the thing, Darcy… however you got yourself in this predicament, we’re not getting you out of it the same way. Those branches will snap under even half my weight.”

Darcy whimpers.

“You trust me Darcy?”

She snorts. “Do I have a choice?”

He shrugs. “Not really.”

She takes a deep breath and sits up straighter, looking at him fully. “What do I have to do?”

“Jump.”

“Are you fucking crazy?!”

“Maybe. But I can’t climb to you. I can, and I will, catch you, though.”

She takes a shaky breath. “Promise?”

He nods. “Promise.”

Darcy nods back and slowly releases her death grip around the trunk of the tree. The branch she’s straddling creaks ominously.

“Good girl. Now swing your leg over.”

Very slowly, she complies. The branch creaks louder.

“On three. One, two, three.”

Darcy closes her eyes, and falls.

Victor digs the claws of his left hand into the trunk of the tree and reaches out with his right, catching Darcy around her middle, spinning her into him and then caging her against the tree trunk in one smooth motion as the branch she’d been perched on sails past her head.

She immediately wraps her arms around his waist and buries her head in his chest.

“Breathe, Darcy.”

Her whole body shudders against him as he complies.

“You okay?”

He feels her head shake against his chest.

He chuckles. “You will be. Open your eyes, sweetheart, I’ve got you.”

Her eyes open and she blinks up at him a few times, the tears obvious this close.

He lifts his right hand and brushes them away gently. “I know your arms are probably already exhausted, but I’m gonna need you to hold on to me to get us back down. Can you do that?”

She nods.

“Okay, I’m gonna turn around. You grab onto my back. We can do this fast or slow. Up to you.”

She latches her arms around his neck like a vice. “Fast.”

Her voice is shaky, but determined, so he gives her the respect of not questioning her. “Hitch your legs up around my waist,” he instructs, “and close your eyes.”

She wraps her legs around him and buries her face against his back.

“Good?”

She nods.

He jumps back to next tree, aiming for a lower branch, leaping back and forth between the two until his feet hit dirt. “Darcy, safe on the ground sweetheart.”

She slowly releases her grip on him, but her legs give out the moment she tries to step away from him.

He spins and catches her before she can hit the ground. “Woah, easy. How long were you up there?”

She leans against him, just letting him hold her up. “Um… fuck, I don’t know.”

“Okay, how’d you get up there?”

She starts shivering and he realizes all she has on is jeans and a t-shirt, no shoes.

“Fuck.” He sets her down on the ground gently. “I left my jacket in the clearing behind us. I’ll be right back.”

Darcy nods in acknowledgment.

Victor literally runs to his jacket and back, scooping Darcy up and wrapping her in the old leather duster as tightly as he can before he scoops her up into his arms, bridal style, and racking his brain trying to remember where the nearest town is. He’s pretty sure there’s a Rangers station about twenty miles southish, so he starts that direction.

Darcy snuggles into him. “Think ‘m in shock.”

Victor tightens his grip on her. “If you aren’t, you’re getting there. Talk to me. It’ll help.”

“Talk about what?”

“Anything. I do really wanna know how the hell you ended up in that tree, though.”

She snorts. “Beats the laws of physics or something, right?”

Victor shrugs. “Never been much for science, but sure, somethin’ like that.”

“Boss lady lives for science. So does Tony. And Asshat von Doom. Oh! That’s how I ended up in the tree! Janey and Asshat Richards were doing a science presentation at a sixth grade camp thing, and von Doom got pissy over soemthing. One of his bots kidnapped me. Dropped me in that tree. I didn’t have my phone, or my fucking shoes, ‘cause we were doing a thing in the river with the kids.”

Victor growls. “Doom, huh?”

Darcy nods against him, eyes drifting close. Something about this mouthy woman nags at protective, primal instincts that haven’t had any kind of hold on him since his brother still fought by his side.

He jostles her until she glares up at him. “Need you to stay awake until we can get you somewhere warm with food and water. Keep talkin’... how do you know my asshole baby brother?”

The growl Darcy releases makes him chuckle. “The Avengers and X-Men teamed up a while back.”

“And how'd he get on your bad side?”

“I swear if he doesn't stop calling me  _ girly _ , I'm gonna tase his ass.”

Victor grins. “That could have interesting results.”

“Hmm?”

“You know how his claws?”

“Adamantium. Janey drooled the first time she saw them.”

“Little known fact, covers his whole skeleton.”

He glances down and watches the thought process across Darcy’s face slowly. Finally she grins brightly. “Oh!” Her nose scrunches. “Does adamantium conduct electricity?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, it does. Ah, shit. Does  _ sweetheart  _ bother you?”

She shakes her head against his shoulder. “Nah. At least not from you.”

“From me?”

Darcy nods. “You saved me for one thing, and you didn’t have to. And you’ve been nothing but  a gentleman.” Her nose scrunches again. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be a bad guy?”

Victor rolls his eyes. “You’re just now thinking about that?”

She shrugs. “Shock, remember?”

Victor sighs and hugs her closer to his chest. “Well, bad guy or not, I won’t ever hurt you, sweetheart.”

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart.”

“‘Kay.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Alright, then.... We still have a long way to hike. Need you to stay awake. Keep talkin’ to me. Anything you want. Just talk.”

Darcy complies, rambling about her boss and the other scientists she cares for, the shenanigans the Avengers get into when they’re not saving the world, her college years and how she would’ve finished her first graduate degree a year ago if Janey would stop opening wormholes and Tony would stop blowing stuff up. She devolves into the latest adventures of her five year old cousin about the time the rangers station finally comes into sight.

Victor draws to a stop outside the door and uses his foot to kick at the bottom a few times, unwilling to release Darcy long enough to knock. Darcy is still mumbling against his chest when the ranger opens the door warily, hand on the butt of his gun.

“Can I help you?”

Darcy’s head snaps around toward the ranger. “Oh thank Thor!” She beams up at Victor. “You got me back to civilization!” She turns back to the ranger. “Got a phone?”

The rangers Google the number for Avengers Tower, and Darcy punches in her personal ID as soon as the automated answering service picks up. Within seconds, Jane is babbling at her from the other end of the line. 

Darcy laughs. “Janey! Chill. Put Stark on. Yeah. I’m fine! Seriously, let me talk to Stark. Thanks. Hey, Tony, please tell me you kicked Doom’s ass. Ugh! I can’t believe you let him get away, you loser! His bot dropped me in a fucking giant sequoia! No, I’m calling you from the top of a tree when you have my damn cell phone in your pocket. I got rescued. No, by Victor Creed.” Whatever Stark says makes Darcy groan, bury her face in her hands, then start giggling uncontrollably.

When it becomes clear she isn’t going to stop, Victor reaches over and gently pries the phone from her grip. “Stark?”

“Sabertooth, I’m guessing?” Tony doesn’t sound surprised.

Victor grins. “Heard you were a smart one. What the hell did you do to her?”

Tony snorts, but otherwise ignores the question. “Where are you? I’ll send a jet for my wayward scientist wrangler.”

Something in Victor clenches at Tony’s casual use of  _ my _ in reference to Darcy, but he squashes it down. “Ranger station near Calaveras. This is a landline, figure it out, genius.” Victor hangs up before Tony can voice the smartass response the mutant has a feeling was coming and turns to Darcy, who’s calmed down enough for the rangers to start plying her with food and water. “She gonna be alright?”

One of the rangers turns toward him, older and more weathered than the fresh faced kid who’d opened the door earlier, the sight of Victor doesn’t even phase him. “She’ll be alright. Tired, hungry, a little dehydrated, and windburnt and sunburnt, but overall… okay. The threat of shock seems to have passed.”

“Good. Kept her talking for near 20 miles.”

“Good work. Did she say she was stuck at the top of a sequoia?”

Victor growls. “Yeah. Fucking petty assholes letting civilians get caught up in their revenge schticks.”

The ranger shakes his head. “Just when I think I’ve heard it all.”

Victor shrugs and crouches in front of Darcy. “Stark’s sending a jet for you, alright sweetheart?”

Darcy slumps against the wall behind her. “Good. I want a hot shower and a bed, in that order. And then I am going to have  _ words _ for Reed Richards.”

Victor grins. “Atta girl. Speakin’ of words, what’d Stark say that set you off?”

Darcy giggles. “Know the whole thing about cats getting stuck in trees? He reminded me of your code name.”

Victor grins and shakes his head. 

“Sabertooth.” Darcy grins sleepily. “Cat saved me from a tree.”

Victor shakes his head, something foreign and fond rising in him and leans forward to kiss her forehead gently before he stands. “Anytime, sweetheart. See ya around, Darcy.”

Darcy bolts upright. “You’re leaving?”

He grimaces. Probably best if I’m not around when your ride gets here. Like you said earlier, I’m a bad guy.”

Darcy frowns.

Victor reaches forward and cups her cheek, brushing his thumb across her lower lip. “Take care of yourself, Darcy.”

 

* * *

 

She showers, sleeps for 18 hours, and orders a ridiculous amount of room service at the posh hotel Tony sets her up at in San Francisco before boarding the jet once again and heading back to New York.

Clint starts laughing as soon as the Tower comes in sight. “Darcy, you should really come see this!”

Darcy stands and stretches, gingerly making her way up to the cockpit and settling herself in the co-pilot’s seat before peering out the glass. Doom is trussed up like a Christmas turkey and hung from the tip of the Avengers  _ A _ by his belt, and Victor is sitting on the ledge beneath him smoking a cigar.

Darcy gapes, and the bolts for the elevator, impatiently ascending to the roof, as soon as Clint lowers the ramp.

Victor grins at her lazily and tamps his cigar out on the ledge next to him.

Darcy cocks her head. “Is this some kind of weird courting ritual? I used to have a cat that would leave dead mice and birds on my door mat.”

Victor shrugs. “Not dead, didn’t think you’d appreciate that. And wasn’t sure which door was yours to leave him outside of… assuming I actually could’ve made it into the residential area of the Tower in the first place.”

Darcy smirks. “I’m not hearing a no.”

Victor rolls his eyes. “That’s ‘cause there wasn’t one in there, sweetheart.”

She beams at him. “I might have to keep you.”

Victor stands and strides to her, right up in her space. “I was kinda hoping you might.” He reaches down and picks her up around the waist, clearly making an effort to avoid her bruised ribs.

Darcy wraps her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, grinning once they’re eye level. “So are you gonna kiss me or what?”

Victor keeps one arm wrapped around her waist and lifts the other hand to tweak the leather collar of the jacket she’s wearing. “I don’t know. Gonna give me my jacket back?

Darcy scoffs. “No way in hell.”

He grins. “Good. Looks better on you anyway.”

Darcy grins and leans forward, pressing his mouth to his in a kiss that starts chaste, but quickly turns into something inappropriate for a rooftop where anyone could walk out. Darcy pulls back just enough to breathe. “We should take this inside.”

“What about… what was it you called him? Asshat?”

“Nat, you got him?” Darcy calls toward a shadowed spot near the door.

Natasha steps into the light. “I’ve got him.”

“You rock. Victor, inside. Now.”

Natasha stops them, briefly, with a hand on Victor’s arm. “Hurt her, and no will ever find your body.”

Victor nods. “Fair.”

She lets him go and waves them on. “Have fun.”

 


End file.
